- April 30, 2024
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Matanzas High School falls to 1-5 in District 4-5A play.
The Matanzas Pirates baseball team allowed three runs in the first inning Friday night, losing 6-2 to Nease in a District 4-5A matchup at historic Jackie Robinson Ballpark, in Daytona Beach.
Matanzas (5-8, 1-5 in district play) scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, but couldn’t muster enough runs to make a comeback. The Pirates were outhit 11-4. The game was played as part of the Field of Dreams series, which allows for high school teams to play at the home of the Daytona Cubs — the Class-A Chicago Cubs affiliate.
The loss finished off a two-game sweep of Matanzas by Nease. The Pirates will now be the No. 4 seed in next month’s district tournament, when they will have to face No. 1 seed Ponte Vedra (5-1 in the district). Matanzas lost both games to Ponte Vedra this season with scores of 5-0 and 9-0.
First-year coach Robert Roe said the biggest thing his team needs to continue to work on is teamwork.
“We have to focus on the main aspect of working together and talking to one another because after almost three months of playing together, sometimes it is like we have no idea who is on the team,” Roe said.
Roe added that there are times throughout games and practices when it’s very quiet.
“(That) would be awesome if we played perfect all the time,” he said. “But we need to talk and communicate with each other to encourage other players on the team and keep our focus on the game and not worry about batting averages, but be more focused on the big picture, which is wins and losses.”
Sophomore center fielder Tyler Walls, who bats leadoff for the Pirates, leads the team in batting with a .355 average. Walls also leads the team in runs scored (seven) and hits (11).
Fellow sophomore Jeremiah Wilson is second in batting with a .308 average and has the team’s only triple.
Senior Kevin Moore has the most RBIs on the team with seven.
Sophomore Tyler Stuart has 14 strikeouts to lead all Pirate pitchers.
The Pirates have 10 regular-season games remaining.
“The kids just have to believe,” Roe said.
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